Damn, the new Tomb Raider game is great. It's like they threw out everything crappy about the previous Tomb Raider games (mostly everything), and compiled a game out of the best parts of Uncharted, Assassin's Creed, and Red Dead Redemption, with a pinch of Heavy Rain for flavor.

I haven't played Far Cry 3 yet, but from what I know of it I see the similarities. What Tomb Raider does extraordinarily well, in an area that video games have been historically bad at, is creating a compelling emotional arc for the protagonist that feels like a natural extension of the gameplay. Combine that with how well-designed that actual gameplay is, and the whole thing just works.

I haven't played Far Cry 3 yet, but from what I know of it I see the similarities. What Tomb Raider does extraordinarily well, in an area that video games have been historically bad at, is creating a compelling emotional arc for the protagonist that feels like a natural extension of the gameplay.

I hear the transition between her killing her first dude (and being horrified) to her being Ms. Killalot is quite jarring. But hey, it's a videogame.

I haven't played Far Cry 3 yet, but from what I know of it I see the similarities. What Tomb Raider does extraordinarily well, in an area that video games have been historically bad at, is creating a compelling emotional arc for the protagonist that feels like a natural extension of the gameplay.

I hear the transition between her killing her first dude (and being horrified) to her being Ms. Killalot is quite jarring. But hey, it's a videogame.

It doesn't fully clear that hurdle, but it does better than something like the Uncharted series (which I do love), where the main character is only a human being in cut-scenes and a genocidal maniac in gameplay. There actually is a progression of the character all the way throughout the game.

Demon's Souls is available for free to PlayStation Plus members as of last week. The second game in that series, Dark Souls, is one of my favorite PlayStation 3 games of all time. Brutal difficulty. Wonderfully dark. Perfectly balanced. One of the only console RPG titles which has an online element worth a damn.

Far Cry 3 was a blast and I enjoyed it immensely, but nothing can hold a candle to Bioshock Infinite right now. It's dangerously close to being the best piece of media I've consumed so far this year. The game probably doesn't need to be a FPS but the scope, story, and execution of this thing are a real glimpse at what video games can achieve. I could never really understand cosplay and gamers wanting to live in the world of any particular game, but Columbia is one of the most beautiful and fully realized places I've ever seen and I would gladly live there...if I could somehow find a way to kick out all of the racist, xenophobic assholes inhabiting it.

holy shit! this seems to have everything I loved about previous GTAs. the robbery mission in GTA 4 is the greatest moment in video game history. and I can wait to walk around and doing stupid shit and spending all my money on bullshit.